REGION: Assemblyman Jeffries takes aim at county supervisor's seat

Term limits forcing Kevin Jeffries to look at different political opportunity

State Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries said Monday that he will run
for Bob Buster's seat on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors
in 2012 and will formally launch his campaign at an event held in
conjunction with the Lake Elsinore Storm's April 7 home opener at
The Diamond.

"We've decided to have a fun-filled evening with a little bit of
politics and a little bit of baseball," Jeffries said during a
telephone interview from Sacramento.

Because of term limits, Jeffries, 50, cannot run for another
term in the Assembly. The Republican could run for the state
Senate, but he said he has no desire to do so.

"Frankly, I am very frustrated with the absolute dysfunction of
the state Legislature," he said. "And I would rather be back at
home."

If successful in his bid for a county office, Jeffries would
become the second ex-lawmaker to join the Board of Supervisors in
recent years after departing Sacramento.

Supervisor John Benoit, who represents the Palm Springs region,
was appointed by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to fill a
vacancy on the board in late 2009.

The chopping block

Jeffries, however, would have to dislodge Buster, the current
board chairman who has been a supervisor since 1993 and represents
the 1st District, which extends from Lake Elsinore and Wildomar to
the city of Riverside.

Buster said he intends to run for a sixth term.

"I'm running on my strong record of pension reform and balancing
our budget," he said. "These times take experience and tough
leadership."

Buster said he also intends to tout his advocacy for better
health care and efforts to bring a medical school to UC
Riverside.

Jeffries said he believes he has much to offer in the way of
extensive local government service prior to his time in
Sacramento.

He served on the boards of the Lake Elsinore Parks and
Recreation District, Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District and
Western Municipal Water District.

He was also a volunteer firefighter for 29 years.

Jeffries said his top priority would be to maintain current
levels of police and fire protection without raising taxes.

"Too often we see essential public safety services being put on
the chopping block, and the public being told they will have to
vote for tax increases to keep those services," he said. "I don't
subscribe to that."

Buster said he, too, wants to avoid tax increases, such as the
one Canyon Lake voters will consider in June.

That, he said, is why he is pushing for pension reform.

He said fast-rising employee retirement costs are driving up the
cost of public safety.

The rising cost of fire protection led to a proposal late last
year to close some county fire stations and scale back staffing at
others.

The fire chief's plan was put on hold.

Still, Jeffries said the proposal was alarming.

"When we crossed over to closing fire stations a few months ago,
that's when it became apparent that we need to have a focus on
keeping basic services open," Jeffries said. "I don't think it's
reasonable to make those kinds of cuts."

One fire station on the chopping block was El Cariso, in the
mountains behind Jeffries' home in Lakeland Village on the western
shore of Lake Elsinore.

"I don't think that's a good idea at all," Jeffries said. "We
have too many Riverside County residents who commute over that
highway every day to work."

The plan called for responding to injury accidents on Ortega
Highway, a section of Highway 74 that runs through the mountains to
Orange County, with paramedics stationed down in the valley.

Jeffries said that would put help too far away.

"I worked out of the Lakeland Village fire station. It can take
you a good 15 minutes to get up there, depending on where the call
is," he said.

Potential successors noncommittal

Jeffries' 66th Assembly District takes in most of the Interstate
15 corridor in Riverside County and part of rural northern and
eastern San Diego County.

But because of Riverside County's explosive growth over the past
decade, the district will have to shed some territory when boundary
lines are drawn based on the 2010 census.

That is in the back of the minds of at least three people
considering running for Jeffries' seat next year.

But Lake Elsinore City Council members Bob Magee and Melissa
Melendez and Murrieta school board member Ken Dickson said Monday
they won't make any decisions until redistricting occurs.

"The district lines are being redrawn as we speak," Melendez
said. "So I think it would be presumptuous on my part, frankly, to
announce a candidacy or declare a candidacy, given that we don't
know where those district lines are going to be drawn. I will tell
you that, yes, I have had a number of people ask me to run."